1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices and, more particularly, to a removable handle for a fluid specimen container.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Doctors and other medical service providers routinely ask patients (or pets) for bodily fluids, such as urine samples. Urine samples are typically collected in a specimen container.
Standard specimen containers suffer from inherent design flaws. First, most specimen containers have a small inlet opening, making the process of filling the specimen container difficult. In some cases, the urine stream exiting the patient misses the inlet opening of the container and contacts the hand, fingers, or wrist of the patient. Given the physiological differences between men and women, and especially between men and pregnant women, men are generally more likely to successfully direct their urine stream into the inlet opening of the specimen container on the first attempt. However, physical conditions, such as blindness, arthritis, or obesity, may make the entire process equally difficult for both sexes.
The small fluid volume capacity of specimen containers also presents a problem. The fluid volume of most specimen containers is much smaller than the volume of the average bladder, requiring the patient to visually approximate the urine level in the specimen container. If the patient does not remove the specimen container from his or her urine stream in a timely fashion, the urine can overflow the specimen container and contact the hand, fingers, or wrist of the patient. As stated above, men are generally in a better position to visually determine the fluid level in the container. However, regardless of the gender or body shape of the patient, stopping the stream of urine at just the right time involves good eyesight, luck, and skill.
A third drawback of specimen containers relates to positive control of specimen containers during mandatory or routine drug testing. Under the current practice, the patient holds the specimen container and an observer watches the urine stream of the patient contact a bottom portion of the specimen container. Overlooking for the moment the embarrassment inflicted on the patient and the observer, allowing the patient to handle the specimen container presents the patient with the opportunity to alter the results of the drug test. For obvious reasons, ways of obtaining a false negative test will not be discussed.
To help alleviate the problems associated with filling specimen containers with urine or other liquids, various solutions have been proposed. For example, latex gloves prevent urine from contacting the skin of a patient. However, latex allergies are well documented, the gloves are not reusable, and urine can still flow along the exterior of the glove and contact the wrist, arm, or leg of a patient. Other approaches, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,625,654; 5,060,317; and 5,342,330, are directed toward specimen containers having integrally formed handles, loosely connected handles, or pivotally connected handles. However, these approaches are also somewhat deficient. The most significant deficiency is that none of the devices are universally adapted to securely hold or grip specimen containers currently in wide use throughout the medical industry.